Police said today that while an officer did pose for photos wearing comical insignia on his uniform, the whole thing was staged by a protest group.
Metro police spokesperson Achayon Kraithong said that images of an officer wearing an anti-establishment “no dinosaurs” badge with the word huaboran (old-fashioned) were taken by pro-democracy protesters at the Samran Rat Police Station. Maj. Gen. Achayon said the officer agreed when asked to wear the badges, one of which featured an orange cat with a knife in its mouth called knifecat.
Although willfully modifying one’s uniform would seem a serious breach of conduct, Achayon was surprisingly blase about it.
“In reality, the official uniform does not allow any additional symbols,” Achayon told reporters. The Metropolitan Police Bureau will verify the facts once again.”
The images were shared Sunday on Twitter by legal rights advocacy group iLaw. It said that protesters met the cop at a rally that day who said he wore them for personal expression, even claiming the cat represented an animal he owned. Online, many people immediately questioned the legitimacy of the images.
#ม็อบ16กรกฎา66 เวลา 13.00 น. อานนท์ นำภานัดกิจกรรมคาร์ม็อบยื่นใบลาออกให้ส.ว. เหล่าทัพเคลื่อนขบวนไปที่กองบัญชาการกองทัพบก-เรือและสตช. – มีตร.ติดสัญลักษณ์แสดงออกที่ชุดเป็นภาพไดโนเสาร์และขีดฆ่า และแมวส้มคาบมีด เขาระบุว่า เป็นความเห็นส่วนตัว แมวส้มที่ติดสื่อถึงแมวส้มที่เลี้ยงไว้ 🐈 pic.twitter.com/i3XNJqRzKL
— iLawFX (@iLawFX) July 16, 2023
“Dinosaur” is a sobriquet used by younger Thais to refer to out-of-touch social conservatives and defenders of the power status quo.
Achayon said that those who tweeted the images could be prosecuted for computer crimes.
The police station reportedly confirmed that the traffic officer in question had been assigned to Sunday’s protest at the Democracy Monument.
